(1) Field of the Invention
This disclosure is directed to a method for identification, tracking, and notification of abandoned items in a store.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Submitted under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Parish (U.S. Published Patent Application No. 20050049914) discloses systems and methods for a retail system. In paragraph [0138], Parish discloses that a shopper “may select an item and later reject the item and leave it in a different location and [the Parish system] can track these items for efficient restocking by the store personnel [and the] abandoned items that the RFID Sensor Reader . . . detects as in the [inappropriate] or wrong location can be rescued if perishable and ready for sale in all cases so that the stock of items are in the correct shelves . . . and aisles as intended by the merchandiser [and having] all products in the correct location reduces the spoilage and waste.”
Debord et al. (U.S. Patent Publications Nos. 20070290869 and 20060061454 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,057,495 and 7,248,147) disclose perishable product electronic labels including time and temperature measurement.
The abstract of Kuzma et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,298,264) discloses an RFID system which utilizes “priority codes written into transponder memory fields of” RFID tags and based “on the use of this priority code, those items can be preferentially tracked as opposed to items of low value or size . . .”